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Note to Readers:
This nine-part story follows a young, straight, American couple from dating to marriage and parenthood, and from exclusive sex to separate side action, swinging, and group sex. All characters involved in sex acts are at least 18 years old, and all appearances of, and references to, children, are not sexual in any way. The sex includes same-sex kissing and touching, and interracial. To make sense of the story, you should read Parts 1 through 7 first. Click on my author name above, or the stories link, to find them.)
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May 2018:
The playdates were pretty awkward, but Kendra and Joan persisted in them. These kids were, as their mothers saw it, doomed to grow up together. A three-year-old boy (chasing after an aging cat), and girls nine and three months (who could be marooned in a playpen and portable crib), were unlikely to bond much. But both women needed face-to-face conversation with an adult, and a second human to help with the wrangling of their next generation. So went their Sunday afternoons.
Kendra got to a recreational topic. "Last night was your return to Neptune?"
Joan nodded as she sipped herb tea. "I kept a halter on all night. That part of me usually isn't in demand anyway."
Joan had, in fact, blossomed through breastfeeding, but not to the extent of what Kendra had normally, and now Kendra had expanded also. Best friends for most of their adult lives, they had moved past sensitivity over their body differences, mainly because Joan had found her soulmate in Stu, and had found extra pleasure by following her bestie into swinging and group sex.
Kendra said, "I've seen some chat the past few months that's been, ahh, intriguing. More new people last night?"
"Shaina and Russ. You might know about their admission process, and the new room. Vince and Audrey were very supportive, although in crosstalk there's some defensiveness. I think the club's greatest value is that it's a safe haven, and it shouldn't be only for conventional couples."
"They're both bi, and they married so they could be beards, right?" Kendra said, paraphrasing from what the new people had stated openly within the club's secure channel. "And one of the spare bedrooms is now specifically for gay men?"
"Yes, but last night there was more drama," said Joan, providing relevant information with no desire to gossip. "Russ and Shaina, in the Couple Doubler, asked if their partners were interested in same-sex touching. Some were willing, but those who weren't complained. Also, one of the younger gay male couples asked to pole- and lap-dance in Club Ecstasy. More complaints, and Vince said no, I think because he wasn't expecting the request."
"I haven't logged in today," Kendra said, and then spent a few minutes saying no to a fussy Jeremy, giving an example of why she hadn't had time for such things.
"Can you put it up there?" Joan asked, pointing at the living room flatscreen. She then got up to check Marlys' diaper.
Kendra made sure she could hear Jeremy as he stomped off into the distance. The family had been in the new house just over a year, with the move timed to the start of her pregnancy. The place was a 2000-vintage five-bedroom of the kind sneered at as a 'McMansion,' but for this family it worked extremely well. It ensured plenty of space for two kids, and the recent build carried the kind of amenities (including large showers and jet-equipped tubs) that made most renovations unnecessary. The house was available well below its original price, having been a white elephant on the books of a bank after a foreclosure in 2009.
Kendra used three different remotes to bring up the secure website of the Greater Neptune Pasta e Fagiola Gulping and Behind-the-Back Juggling Society. The thread of comments from the previous night's orgy was unusually long.
It seemed bizarre, in this community that flouted society's sexual norms, to see so many people have so much trouble with other kinds of flouting. The comments on the orgy branched to a discussion on whether the organization should make an effort to welcome people who were on the sexual margins, in ways that the bonded couples were not.
Recently the lexicon of sexuality had taken in terms like 'cis' (for that which wasn't 'trans'), 'self-identified,' 'non-binary,' and 'assigned at birth.' Even Myrna, who was the most friendly to and conscious of diversity in the club, struggled to understand desires that were outside her experience.
Stephanie wrote that Greater Neptune could welcome people who sought to learn about themselves, and find their happiness, without them risking life and limb. She hoped the club could provide that venue, without interfering with what existing members pursued. She drew a line in the sand, however, on one of the emerging issues in society that didn't affect sex in the club. "This is just my opinion, take it for what it's worth. If you change your body and chemicals as an adult, and that makes your life better, then fine, enjoy what you are now. But if you didn't go through adolescence menstruating, and dealing with a narrow range of opportunities and expectations, I believe that you're not a woman, and you shouldn't demand that society treat you as one."
Neal, an English teacher in real life, had his own axe to grind. "'They' and 'them' aren't singular! Using them that way creates confusion. I'm all in favor of adding genderless-but-human singular pronouns to the language (so we can avoid the insult of 'it'), we just have to agree on what they are. English is a living language. Reasonable changes can be made. The non-gendered form of 'he' and 'she' could be 'e.'" From that point, his comment was redacted by Vince, who recognized Neal's lecture mode, and asked anyone interested in this to contact Neal separately.
There were also comments to the effect that the club should remain (or revert to) a place for an M-F couple to meet like-minded and -bodied couples, to get kinks out of their system so they could tranquilize their normal lives. There were even some comments that Audrey or Vince had redacted entirely. Kendra was bummed that the consensus tolerance of many club members seemed to shrink when people seeking that tolerance showed up at the orgy.
Farther along in the thread, Kendra and Joan read that Vince had set a policy for the next orgy, of pole- and lap-dance times to be reserved by the day before, with the schedule to be posted at the door. This settled the dispute but didn't end the grumbling of straight men who wanted Club Ecstasy to have only women as performers. On other points that may have been below the surface, Audrey and Vince declared that from now on, pegging would only take place either in Self-Restraint or behind a 'privacy' shield in The Toy Chest, and that the policy all along for The Hideaway was that any pair of people (including gay men) could disport in a curtained booth.
"In spite of all this," Kendra asked Joan, "Did you have a good time?"
Joan smiled. "We did. Our fun was still available. With Marisol and Frank, and Ravi and Kim. And, once we all got past some awkwardness, Shaina and Russ."
"Good for you. And Stu." Kendra's smile got a bit naughtier. "How did it all feel?"
"Niiice. Libido's back. And Stu says I'm getting some of your Mom power. You?"
"It's a work in progress. I think it's going like it did before."
"Just about everybody said to say hello, and how much they miss you, even if you know that their motives are ulterior."
Kendra looked at the playpen and asked, "Are you one and done?"
"I think so. Stu's had plenty of trouble adjusting, and I'm eager to get back to full-time practice. I won't rule it out, but..." Joan shrugged. "Meanwhile, you've become an efficient human production system. Still shutting down?"
"It does seem to be a waste to quit now," said Kendra, picking up Lori for a diaper change. "My first labor was twenty-two hours. The second was forty-nine minutes. But I think I've brought enough new people into the world. I'm actually excited about the next phase, guiding them to adulthood."
Then all three kids became different kinds of needy. Kendra was glad that Sam was doing the grocery shopping and other errands (as Stu was doing for the other household), but really wanted him to finish and get home. She knew this was probably the most demanding phase of their parenting, and tried to stay strong through it. Greater Neptune was dealing with unexpected issues, and some participants might quit because of them. Still, thanks to Vince and Audrey and their house, the club would be there once Lorraine weaned herself. This gave Kendra a light to imagine in the tunnel.
***
July 2018:
